Diablo Canyon Unit 1 back at 100% power following maintenance

AVILA BEACH, Calif. - Planned maintenance at the Diablo Canyon Power Plant Unit 1 has concluded.

Unit 1, which has generated more than 15 million megawatt-hours of electricity since the unit's previous refueling outage in early 2019, was safely shut down in early October.

PG&E employees and temporary workers completed a number of major projects during the closure. Workers replaced a portion of the reactor fuel, conducted maintenance, and tested systems and components that are not accessible during regular plant operations.

"With safety as our most important responsibility, our team has successfully completed more than 11,000 work activities during this planned refueling and maintenance outage. The work they have done supports our strong commitment to operate DCPP in a safe and reliable manner and ensures the continued delivery of clean and affordable electricity to our customers." 

Jim Welsch, Senior Vice President, Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer

Crews also navigated a new set of challenges during the maintenance project due to modified operations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Workers received daily wellness self-checks and temperature checks.

Each of Diablo's two reactor units is refueled about every 20 months. Unit 2 is currently offline for its own maintenance.